Hand guard or grip



y 1968 M. coco 3,381,304

HAND GUARD OR GRIP Filed July 19, 1965 FIG I LEFT RIGHT I NVENTOR. MICHAEL COCO FIG 4 AT TORNE Y 137 Bis-Ln United States Patent Office 3,381,304 Patented May 7, 1968 3,381,304 HAND GUARD R GRIP Michael Coco, Wilmington, Del. Nissen Corp., 930 27th Ave. SW., Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404) Filed July 19, 1965, Ser. N0. 472,941

- 4' Claims. (Cl. 2-20) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hand guard or protector for gymnasts while performing, for instance, on parallel bars which is secured to the hand by means of the fingers and the wrist without the need of any buckles, snaps or other fasteners. In its preferred form the'fguard for each hand employs a single strip of flexible sheet material having an aperture for the index finger at onelend, the other end having a broadened palm portion and a pair of laterally spaced apertures receiving the index and little fingers, the intermediate portion of the strip being wound around the wrist.

The chief objects of the present invention are to provide a hand guardor grip which is light in weight, which can be quickly donned or removed, which is effective to protect the hands against blisters and friction burns, and yet which does not require any fastening devices such as buckles, snaps or ties in order to maintain the guards securely in place upon the hands, nor which interferes with the wearers movements. Briefly described, each grip is formed from a single piece of suitable material, provided at one of its ends with a single finger receiving hole and at its other end With a pair of finger receiving holes which, when the grip is wound about the hand and wrist in a certain fashion, maintain it securely in place without need of any additional securing means. The end of the grip having the pair of finger receiving holes also includes a broadened portion lying across the palm of the hand in order to provide protection therefor. Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of 'the preferred form thereof, read in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a pair of grips according to the present invention; and

FIGURES 2 through 4 illustrate the. sequence of steps for application to a performers left hand of the grip for that hand.

In the drawings, and 10 denote grips for the left and right hands, respectively, of a gymnast or other performer. Each grip is preferably cut, as by a die for instance, from a sheet of suitable flexible material. A poromeric material which has proved very satisfactory for the purpose is that presently manufactured by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Del., and sold under the trademark Corfam. This material is both light in weight, soft and yet sufficiently strong even when quite thin. It will be observed from FIGURE 1 that the grip 10 for the left hand comprises essentially an elongated, generally arcuate piece of material having a tail portion 11, one of its outer ends 12 being somewhat further cranked at 13 at a location hereafter explained as well as being slightly widened. The end 12 in turn is rounded and provided at its extremity with an index finger opening 14 therein. In the direction toward the other end of the material the latter is asymmetrically widened, by increasing the curvature of its inner arcuate edge 15, in order to provide a broad palm protecting portion 16 and a wider, blunt end 17. The latter has a pair of rouned, laterally disposed corners apertured to provide a pair of finger openings 18 and 19 to receive the index and little fingers, respectively, of the performers left hand in the manner hereafter described. The grip 10 for the right hand is the same, but in effect is a mirror image of that for the left and accordingly primed reference numerals have been used with reference thereto in the drawings.

Application of grips 10 and 10' to the hands is sequentially shown in FIGURES 2 through 4, illustrating the procedure for grip 10 for the left hand in particular. First, 'it will be seen, the index finger is inserted through finger opening 14 in a direction so that the grip, owing to the curvature of its tail portion 11, falls downwardly and diagonally across the palm of the hand to the far or remote side of the wrist, the crank 13 of end 12 being located at approximately the latter point. The grip is then "wound around and over the back of the wrist to the other side of the latter, the crank 13 of the end 12 aiding the fit around the Wrist at the base of the hand. The end 17 is thereafter brought upwardly and diagonally across the palm, the palm protecting portion 16 thus transversely overlying the end 12, and is secured by insertion of the index and little fingers through the openings 18 and 19, respectively. Application of the right hand grip 10' is of course similar.

Accordingly, it will be apparent the grips 10, 10' are easily and quickly applied while at the same time they provide complete protection for the palm of a performers hand without need of additional straps, buckles or snaps which may snag or dig into the flesh. The grips have been thoroughly tested in actual use, have been found completely effective and do not interfere with the performers movement. It will, of course, be realized that several sizes of grips are necessary in order to fit different ranges of hand sizes.

Although the invention has been described with regard to a particular embodiment and detailed descriptive language has been used, it is not intended to be limited thereto. Instead the following claims are to be read as encompassing all modifications and adaptations falling within the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A hand guard or grip comprising an elongated length of flexible sheet material, means at one end of said length for securing same to a finger of a hand adjacent the base of said finger, said length being effective to extend from said finger along the hand to one side of the wrist, thereafter around the wrist in order to frictionally secure said length thereabout, and then from the wrist over the palm of the hand to the fingers, the other end of said length having means for securing same to at least one finger of the hand adjacent the base of said finger, the portion of said material lying over the palm having a width effective to provide protection for the palm.

2. A hand guard or grip comprising an integral strip of flexible sheet material, one end of said strip having an aperture therein effective to receive the entire index finger of a hand therethrough in order to secure said end to said finger, said strip having a relatively narrow first portion permitting it to extend from said finger generally diagonally across the palm of the hand to the side of the wrist remote from said finger and then around and over the back of the wrist to the other side of the latter in order to secure same to the wrist, and a second portion permitting said strip to extend from said other wrist said generally diagonally across the palm to the fingers, said second portion transversely crossing and overlapping said first portion and being laterally broadened in the area of the palm effective to provide protection therefor, the other end of said strip having a pair of laterally disposed apertures therein to receive the entire index and little finger of the hand respectively therethrough in order to secure said other end to said fingers, said finger apertures at both ends of said strip being solely responsible for securing said ends.

3. A hand guard or grip comprising a single length of flexible sheet material having one portion provided with an aperture therein at its outer end to receive the entire finger of a hand therethrough and thereby secure said end to the hand, said portion being effective to extend from said finger along the palm of the hand to one side of the wrist and thereafter around the wrist in order to frictionally secure said length thereabout, and a second portion lying across the palm and sufficiently laterally extensive to provide protection therefor, the outer end of said second portion being provided with a pair of apertures therein to receive a pair of non-adjacent fingers entirely therethrough in order to secure said end to the hand, said portions overlapping each other in the area of the palm.

4. A hand guard or grip comprising a piece of flexible sheet material having a relatively narrow retaining portion and a wider palm protecting portion joined to said retaining portion, said protecting portion having a broad 4 outer end provided with at least one pair of laterally spaced openings therein to receive a pair of fingersof a hand entirely therethrough in order to secure said end to the hand, said protecting portion extending from said end thereof across the palm to one side of the wrist, said retaining portion extending from said wrist side around the Wrist effective to frictionally anchor said guard thereabout and thereafter along the hand toward the fingers, said retaining portion having an outer end provided with at least one opening therein to receive at least one finger entirely therethrough in order to secure said end to the hand.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 883,761 4/1908 Taylor 294-25 1,836,223 12/1931 Burns et a1. 294-25 2,369,210 2/1945 Capossela 216 3,178,724 4/ 1965 Perschke 216 3,237,950 3/1966 Harvey 2159 X JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

I. BOLER, Examiner. 

